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6 Apr 2010 : Column 1153W—continued
Departmental Marketing
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department and its agencies spent on promotional items carrying the Department's branding and logo in the last five years; and what those items were. [324712]
Dan Norris: The Departmental Communications Directorate's spend on promotional items carrying the Department's branding and logo is detailed in the table.
Detailed spend by DEFRA agencies is not held centrally and could be collated only at disproportionate cost.
| Item description | Cost (£) |
Departmental Pay
Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what records his Department maintains of the reimbursable expenses paid to its special advisers. [325116]
Dan Norris: DEFRA records payment of reimbursable expenses made to special advisers in its financial system.
Departmental Theft
Mr. Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to deter theft from within the Department. [322647]
Dan Norris: Measures to deter, prevent and detect theft are an essential feature of the Department's protective security controls. These controls reflect the standards set out in the HMG Security Policy Framework (SPF) issued by the Cabinet Office and available at:
It would not be appropriate to provide details of specific controls as this could undermine their effectiveness.
Departmental Written Questions
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what methodology his Department used to determine whether answers to questions in the formulation "if he will set out with statistical information related as directly as possible to the tabling hon. Member's constituency the effects on that constituency of his Department's policies since 1997" could be provided without incurring disproportionate cost; and if he will make a statement. [323863]
Dan Norris: Where the total cost to the Department of obtaining an answer to a parliamentary question is over £800, this is considered to be a disproportionate cost.
Environment Protection: Coastal Areas
Mr. Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether his Department allocates funding to coastal local authorities for tackling the effects of coastal erosion; [323695]
(2) how much his Department spent on tackling coastal erosion in each of the last five years. [323700]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The majority of the investment for all flood and coastal erosion risk management activity is now delivered through grants from DEFRA to the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency invests directly in coastal flood risk management and also gives grants to local authorities and internal drainage boards.
The following table shows the grants that were allocated to coastal local authorities for coastal erosion risk management in the last five financial years. Levels of grant allocation for coastal erosion in part reflect the number and nature of schemes coming forward in any one year. For example, 2006-07 and 2007-08 were characterised by a number of large schemes such as that in Blackpool which was allocated £12 million and £17 million in 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively.
| £ million | |
| Source: DEFRA website and Environment Agency financial records. | |
Local authorities can also fund coastal erosion risk management using a number of sources, including central Government specific grants, council tax and formula grant from central Government. The following table gives final outturn estimates of local authority revenue expenditure and financing (i.e. formula grant) for coast protection for the last five financial years. Further details on this expenditure are not held centrally.
| Local authority revenue outturn for coast protection, net current expenditure | |
| £ million | |
| (1) Budget not outturn. Source: Department for Communities and Local Government, revenue expenditure and financing statistics. | |
The Government have also directly allocated £11 million funding to 15 coastal local authorities through the coastal change pathfinder programme that was announced in December 2009. The pathfinders, working in partnership with their local communities, are exploring a range of new and innovative approaches to help communities adapt to the effects of coastal change (including coastal erosion).
Horses
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his latest estimate is of the number of horses in England; and how that estimate was calculated. [324876]
Jim Fitzpatrick:
The latest estimate of the horse population is taken from the British Equestrian Trade Association (BETA) National Equestrian Survey 2005-06.
This survey estimates the horse population of Great Britain to be 1.3 million. There are no estimates available for England only.
Horses: Travel
Mr. Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many horses entered the UK with no requirement for a UK passport in the latest year for which figures are available; what his latest assessment is of the effectiveness of horse passports and the National Equine Database; and if he will make a statement. [324880]
Jim Fitzpatrick: Information is not collected on the number of horses entering the UK without a valid passport. Horse passports legislation requires any horse without a valid passport to have an application submitted to an EU-approved issuing body within 30 days of arrival in the UK.
The National Equine Database contains details of all horse passports issued and amended in the UK. Information is uploaded on a monthly basis.
Incinerators
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on safety concerns regarding the inclusion of incinerator bottom ash in road building and other construction materials; and if he will make a statement. [324235]
Dan Norris: DEFRA has not received any direct representations on the use of incinerator bottom ash in road building and construction materials. However, a technical advisory group has been established, which is currently pooling evidence to demonstrate whether end-of-waste criteria can be met. The Environment Agency is working closely with industry to obtain additional data to help this process.
More information is available on the Environment Agency's website at:
Inland Waterways
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the assessment made by British Waterways of (a) its waterways network infrastructure and (b) the elements of its waterways network infrastructure not categorised as principal assets; and if he will make a statement. [325335]
Huw Irranca-Davies: British Waterways categorises the condition of its principal and most significant non-principal assets using a five-point condition grading system of A (very good) through to E (bad) in order to establish priorities for maintenance work. The latest information available as at 31 March 2009(1) is as follows:
(1) Information provided by British Waterways.
| Grade description (Percentage) | ||||||
| A : Very good | B : Good | C : Fair | D : Poor | E : Bad | Assets assessed | |
British Waterways take a risk-based approach in using the funding available to maintain the network. They concentrate on those assets in the poorest condition and that have the highest consequence of failure e.g. in terms of safety or the impact on the wider network.
Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if his Department will provide funds to British Waterways to restore to good condition its assets assessed as (a) already defective and (b) at risk of becoming defective; and if he will make a statement. [325336]
Huw Irranca-Davies: The level of grant funding for the waterways will be a decision for the next Spending Review and will need to balance long-term sustainability of the waterways with the overall fiscal position at the time. Government grant are, however, not the sole factor in determining what is spent on the waterways-efficiency savings, third party funding and commercial income are also very important.
Spend on maintenance of the network is a priority for British Waterways who take a risk-based approach in using the funding available to maintain the network. They concentrate on those assets in the poorest condition and that have the highest consequence of failure e.g. in terms of safety or the impact on the wider network.
Marine Conservation Zones
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what use will be made of scientific evidence in identifying marine conservation zones under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009; [325467]
(2) whether the seven principles of ecological coherence will be adhered to in the designation of marine conservation zones; [325468]
(3) whether the minimum conservation objective for marine conservation zones will be that of favourable condition. [325469]
Huw Irranca-Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood (Paddy Tipping) on 29 March 2010, Official Report, columns 609-10W.
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